Pardon me for noticing, but Zac and Angela Hacker seem to have a great deal of freedom on their particular reality series.

There's no curfew at night, so they can go out on the town with family members and friends.

There's no publicity police, hovering in the background during interviews or listening to their phone conversations.

There's no problem if the Hackers want to play an instrument on camera, demonstrating their musicianship. Sometimes, they even get to perform original material for the judges.

Their TV show, now in its fifth season, begins with the top 10 finalists already in place and moves quickly to name a winner.

As you read this, five episodes have been broadcast and just four singers remain in the competition. All of them are hoping to win a recording contract with Warner Bros., a chance to sing on the Grand Ole Opry and the keys to a brand-new Chevy Silverado.

Welcome to the world of "Nashville Star," an "American Idol" clone on the USA network.

Producers for this series will tell you they had the idea first, but took longer to get it on television. No matter. If "Idol" is Goliath, drawing about 30 million viewers per week, "Nashville Star" is David, attracting a few million fans.

But the Hackers, a brother and sister who grew up in LaGrange, near Muscle Shoals, have found plenty of advantages to being on the smaller and more streamlined series, particularly for two country singers.

"Nashville Star" takes place smack dab in the middle of the country music industry. It has a highly professional focus, skews to an older audience (which means the older singers have a better shot at weekly votes) and doesn't seem to mind that the Hackers have publishing deals with companies attached to Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals.

"I think we definitely chose the best reality show for singing and for music," Angela Hacker says. "In the past, these kinds of shows, I didn't really believe they were authentic. I didn't know the power they had. But I'll never regret doing this, whether I get kicked off next or go on to win the thing."

When I talked to Angela, 29, and Zac, 23, earlier this week by telephone, "Nashville Star" hadn't yet trimmed its list of contestants from five to four. But after Thursday's broadcast, at least one of them is sure to remain on the show.

Sibling rivalry? You betcha, although Zac and Angela emphasize that it's balanced by support and love.

"I have no problem coming in second, just not to her," Zac says, laughing. "We're very, very competitive. We try not to show too much of it. But deep down inside, both of us are questioning ourselves. What in the world could I do if it comes down to me and my sister? Or, what would I do to win against her?"

The Hackers, who seem like down-home realists, say the visibility they've gotten on "Nashville Star" is a guarantee of career advancement and that's exactly what they sought by auditioning.

"When I knew that I was going to be on this show, I took a minute to think, to see if I was ready," Angela says. "You have to sign a paper that says the network can portray you any way they want. But I'm not complaining about it one bit. It is what it is. You accept it and go on. We're all here for the exposure. 'Nashville Star' has put me on the map. Before, no one knew who Angela Hacker was."

That's a refreshing dose of honesty from a reality contestant, many of whom learn to spin their answers or dodge reporters' questions with feel-good blather. But during our conversations, I got the distinct impression that these Hackers would have a hard time lying.

Angela, for example, doesn't hide her frustration with some comments made by the judges: Alabama frontman Randy Owen, country singer Blake Shelton and entertainment executive Anastasia Brown.

Music criticism is most welcome, Angela says, but she's had a tough time swallowing negative remarks about her stage costumes and basic pulchritude.

"I'm not in a beauty pageant," she says. "I clean up pretty well, but it wouldn't matter if I had 20 thongs, a glam squad and all the money in the world. I'm not rail thin or all Botoxed. It's not that I don't respect what they say. But I'm OK being the simple girl who doesn't wear makeup to Wal-Mart."

Zac, meanwhile, admits that he gets "all stirred up" while reading remarks from viewers on the "Nashville Star" message boards. Comments there can be brutal, slamming everything from his physique to his attitude to his song selections.

"Do I dwell on it? No," he says. "But I can't tell you how important it is for me to feel comfortable and look good on the show. The camera puts more weight on you, and if you read those boards, it's hard not to get locked into what people are saying. It's real easy to convince yourself: Oh, everyone's looking at my double chin."

Both Hackers say they're most confident when the show focuses on singing and songwriting, skills they've been working on for years. Zac toured the Southeast with various bands and spent four years building his catalog at House of Fame Publishing.

"I can't tell you how many times I've had to play five or six nights per week, doing acoustic shows by myself," he says. "I set up the PA, run cables, do a sound check â€” do it all, play for four hours, tear it down and do it again. On 'Nashville Star,' I sing for a minute and 45 seconds. Doing this right here is like riding in a limo."

Angela, who writes for Rick Hall Music, has a self-titled EP to her credit. She's also been playing acoustic dates around Muscle Shoals for five years. Even before "Nashville Star" came calling, Angela says, she was preparing to cut her first album with Hall's help.

While toiling on the nightclub circuit, neither of the Hackers ever dared to imagine that national television would offer them such a sterling career boost.

"It's all about being marketable, but you've got to stay true to yourself," Zac says. "I plan to go out when the show's over and do a Zac Hacker record, see if I can sell it -- even if I don't think Hank would have done it this way."